Most of this info I have gleaned from reading http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk Many supporters will say, and I tend to agree, is that we have A LOT of money wasted on wages for players who are deemed as surplus to requirements, or are simply not good enough. At best guess, this probably equates to about 3 million a week: Bendtner Denilson Almunia Squillaci Diaby (whilst talented, we are giving him wages to effectively sit on the treatment table for the past two seasons). Are all on roughly 50k a week As well as players like Vela, who either want out of the club, or are simply not good enough and are just sitting in the reserves, who are on considerably less. Now that is ALOT of money that seems wasted on inferior talent. That isn't all the issue though. We know that business comes first, and that the first priority is keeping the club running in profit, and working our way out of the debt (mostly for the building of the Emirates). So as to keep the club running for centuries to come (as well as abiding by FFP rules). So it is this aspect of Arsenal that perplexes me more than the wasted wages on inferior players. Whilst trying to keep Arsenal operating tidily, the board has failed to secure us respectable Commercial Revenue streams, as well as Shirt Sponsor and Kit deals. The latter being due to tying ourselves into a hefty long term deal, that really hasn't paid out that well. The former however is concerning. Currently Arsenal sit 14th in Europe of biggest Commercial revenue streams (In what I'd argue as Arsenal are easily top 8 in Europe). This Commercial stream, only represents 20% of our total turnover, lower than any of the English teams that have represented us in Champions League in the past few years: (Chelsea,City,Liverpool,Tottenham and United). Now this latter statement is not nessercarily a bad thing, it shows that Arsenal are the least reliant club in this aspect, it also shows a bit of naivity and business nous, that a club of our stature and standing within the European Footballing Community, is in my opinion, not getting a good deal when it comes to Commercial deals. This is passed on in one of two ways, to keep Arsenal in the black. Firstly through player sales (something Arsene has always said is apart of the business model Arsenal have, and something I can somewhat agree with). The likes of Adebayor, Toure, Nasri and Cesc, has netted us well over 100 million in profit between the 4, and over the past 4-5 years of the transfer market (in/out) has netted us close to 90 million. Wholly positive news you will agree, from a money standpoint. Buying an unknown for pennies, getting the best out of him and then selling him for millions, and it has worked numerous times for us as well (Anelka being the biggest that comes to mind). However this is taken into account into the business model, and apart from the selling of the apartments around the Emirates has been the reason why Arsenal have made a profit. The second way this is passed on, is through ticket prices. This directly affects us, the fans. This has all snowballed from the fact that other revenue streams I've mentioned earlier have not worked out, and have been costing us, in terms of other teams in Europe. To keep up with their spending power, and their revenue streams, ticket prices have increased heavily. Now during most economic climates I'm sure that would be ok, there will always be enough fans who can buy tickets each week. However at this point in time, we are noticing that the stadium is not as full as it once was. Whether this be due to the form of the team, or the ticket prices, or anything else. Placing a burden of financial well-being on your fans, isn't a great thing to be doing for any business (one that may continue to work, given the nature of the relationship of a sports team to fans of said sports team). All of this will affect Arsenals buying power. It however stems from the fact that Arsenal as a club, have not been able to garner themselves adequate deals for their Kits, or from Commercial streams. Which cost us in relation to United approx 60 million a year. TL: DR.. Arsenal as a business are failing to secure decent sponsorship deals, and as a result having to resort to other methods to keep up with the likes of United and Chelsea. Not just a poor wage scheme costing us potential stars, and therefore trophies.
As I understand it, a lot of these commercial deals were brokered before Gazidis came in - the long term Kit and Stadium deal being an example. I think one of the reasons Gazidis was brought in was to maximise opportunities in this area.
Some are now beginning to realize that Gazidis has not been successful in doing the main thing he was brought in to do, i.e increase commercial revenues (shirt sponsorship, Stadium naming rights and expansion of overseas revenues). Because he has not succeeded in this he has done the only other things he could do i.e raise ticket prices and sell players. Thus hitting fans in the pocket and adversely affecting the balance of the team. The question is, how long can he remain in position given these figures and when will the Board wake up to the opportunities that are being missed?
Hence the Asia tour. I think we come to the end of some of the commercial deals soon and can renegotiate. Recall hearing that we are due to get a signiciant increase in commercial revenues when this happens.
The renew date for the shirt deal is 2014, the stadium rights is a bit longer, I think. Blaming Gazidis for those deals is just idiotic. Like Piskie said, they got done before he came to our club and he can't renew them for us until the current deal expires.
To be honest I dont think that commercial revenues are where Gazidis has failed. Where he has fallen short is his communication with the fans. He's a spin doctor, often falling back on his 'sustainable model' nonsense, which doesnt stack up when you look at just how much cash we are hoarding. Thats not sustainable model, it's a cash cow model that is leading to Arsenal weakening as a football team.
I don't see why not... The EPL is huge in Africa, and compared to Asia (which ManU and Lpool have milked for years) it is an untapped market whose value will increase a lot in the next few years. Showing them a little love now will be a good investment for the future.
Africa is a great market for Arsenal.. Whose supporters are quite numerous in various African countries. Also the USA is a great market, Thierry Henry has been a great ambassador, and FOX sports shows a LOT of Arsenal games in relation to any other teams in the premier league.
Lets look at the facts. For some time now we have bought in the most money (net) from transfers of ANY TEAM in the premier league. In addition for some time we have been the 5TH BIGGEST SPENDERS ON WAGES. When combined these facts show that we should be in the battle for 5th/6th with clubs with lower wage bills but bigger transfer spends (i.e. spudlings and villa). HOWEVER WE ARE 4TH MINIMUM EVERY YEAR. This proves that wenger is overachieving. So we should all rally behind wenger because, like fergie, he continues to defy the figures every year.
It seems as if you have misunderstood the whole point of this post. This post is infact in as little as it can be, about Arsene Wenger. This is about how the board, and the clubs financial providers commit their business for the good of the club. As well as the flaws and negative points between underwhelming sponsorship deals, and very high percentage of revenue being match day income. As well as the impacts it has on Arsenal FC. But you appeared to have missed the crux of the matter, and automatically assume that this is a Wenger bashing.. Which it isn't. Point is, Wenger should not have to rely on a flawed wage system, and having to make a profit on transfers. Instead the board should get their act together, and act better as a business that supports what the majority of people are vested in at Arsenal. This post is attempting to show some of the other flaws in the Arsenal FC business model. NOT CRITICISING WENGER.
I wasnt neccessarily replying to your op but making a linked point. I understand your OP, but as others have said those deals were locked up a long time ago...
Football is about money at club level. The sides with bigger budgets should be higher than the clubs without.
I've said on plenty of occasions that Wenger has done well with the resources at his disposal and I stand by my assertion that if we'd sacked him when some were calling for his head, then we might already have fallen out of the Champions League. I don't believe there is another manager (certainly one who we could have realistically brought in) who could have done a better job managing the transition from Highbury and the break up of the invincibles team. It does seem that we undersold ourselves in our commercial ventures during this period though and what with having to pay for a new stadium that's obviously had a big impact on our finances and ability to compete in the transfer market. I don't buy the argument that money hasn't affected what goes on on the pitch. As mentioned the criticism of Gazidis is stupid, he has been brought in to revamp our commercial presence. He can't be held accountable for deals that we're brokered before he came to the club.
Percentage of your posts where you put in "I told you so" or have a dig at people who didnt think we would come 3rd/4th Piskie? I would say 75%+
I think you and I agree on this. It is often confused by others with thinking that we are happy not winning trophies. I tend to look at a season like walking into a casino. When you walk in every time you have a x% chance of winning (whatever it is). Whether you win or not, the next time you walk in your odds of winning are not affected by how many times you have been to the casino before. We try to maximise our chance of winning something every year, and I firmly believe that having Wenger in charge maximizes our chances.
Actually, there's nowhere where I've said 'I told you so' but I have pointed out that what I've been saying all season, is consistent with how we've performed and where we currently are. Even after the 8-2, I said we'd be good enough for top 4. I remember how that comment was jumped on at the time, so it's natural that I would refer to the predictions that we'd end up mid table or that Wenger would lead us into a full blown crisis - as being wrong.
I think some people fall into the trap of thinking that because we've not won a trophy, we need to throw the baby out with the bath water. When in fact, we are not that far off at all. It's too easy to clamour for a complete change of management in the misguided belief that it will improve things. If we had sacked Wenger when people we're calling for his head earlier this season, I think far from improving the situation, it would have plunged us into a full blown crisis. The accusations of 'accepting mediocrity' are misnomers. The people who back Wenger have never said that everything is rosey, they have always offered reasoned suggestions about how we can improve, whilst also observing what we've done right and what works. We're 3rd this season. To me that suggests that whilst we can always improve, we've got more right this season than we've got wrong.
